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Sorry I didn't see this. I had a five week stall my second month and into third month. Wow was that diacouraging. I lost 143 by end of year. But every month I stalled for two or three weeks and then lost several pounds quickly. Everyone loses differently. Some people apparently never stall - and then there are the rest of us. Hope you are doing well now. OA has a good saying: progress not perfection

Does anyone know what taking BCP's does to weight loss? I started taking a continual double dose of my BCP'S so that I'm not constantly having my TOM, and have only lost two lbs in the three weeks since then. My weight loss stopped the day that I started the double dose. Coincidence?? It is totally possible that the stall is just a long third week stall, but I'm about six weeks past surgery and have basically been in a stall for three. And I'm eating my Protein, getting my Water, getting exercise, and having about 600-700 calories daily. Ideas anyone?

There is a typical three week stall, you may just be starting early. However, make sure you're getting all of your Water in. Not drinking enough can cause your body to retain the water and translate it into a "gain" temporarily. Also, if you're close to TOM, most of us ladies experience a slight gain, followed by a big drop after it's done. You're doing fine. Don't get stressed out now.

Mzpecanbrown congrats on ur loss. U post was hiliarious. I weigh daily also. I think may be in a stall right now. I keep going up or down by a pound. I am three weeks out. The scale really hasn't moved all week. It is a little frustrating but I am reading that it is normal at this point. Vsg chichi I guess that is up to you. You will have to take off all your clothes the day of surgery. During my surgery I was given a catheter. I don't remember it going in or them taking it out. ( Thank GOD)

Well, it finally happened. Three weeks later than I expected. Six weeks out and I hit a stall. Stuck at 215 for the last week. It's okay though since I added exercise to the schedule this week so my body is probably just trying to adjust. I did have a great NSV this week too. I cleaned out my closet and took two large trash bags of clothes that i will never wear again to a consignment store that sells only women's sizes 14 and over. I get 50% of the sales price. These are very nice clothes as I have to wear business dress for work. I can use the profits as credit in the store if I want. The store has really cute clothing and accessories so I think this is a good deal as I am dropping sizes and don't want to spend the money on new clothes. Great transitional clothing! I'm eating regular food now but still having a hard time getting the calories up to 800 per NUT's recommendation. Still around 600. Protein has been in the high 70's to low 80's, carbs in the 20's, and at least 64 ounces of water daily, sometimes more. Last night I had halibut cakes, rather cake (singular) since I could barely eat one. I'm not finding eating at restaurants challenging at all. There always seems to be healthy choices. I ate one or two bites of the outside of the cake which was very lightly coated with panko, and ate mostly the middle of the cake and two green beans. It was a delicious meal, although just the very small bites of the panko crust did send me to the bathroom an hour later. At least I thought that's what it was. Could also have been the rich filling in the halibut cake too. For Father's Day, I'm making Emily's Bites Lasagna Cpcakes since my husband wants lasagna. Can't wait to try them! I feel like I am in a really good rhythm now and it is great!

I've reached the first dreaded stall at three weeks out...the scale hasnt moved at all!!! Im not by all means expecting to lose as much as i see others on here losing just kinda hoped that i could miss the stalls!![wishful thinking] Am i eating to much?? I am able to eat 4oz of chicken combined with veggies in about 20 mins is that to fast, to much food?? I see people posting saying that they are only able to eat a couple spoonfuls of their meal and i can eat the whole meal. *sighs* your help and advice is appreciated...thanks in advance [=

I've reached the first dreaded stall at three weeks out...the scale hasnt moved at all!!! Im not by all means expecting to lose as much as i see others on here losing just kinda hoped that i could miss the stalls!![wishful thinking] Am i eating to much?? I am able to eat 4oz of chicken combined with veggies in about 20 mins is that to fast, to much food?? I see people posting saying that they are only able to eat a couple spoonfuls of their meal and i can eat the whole meal. *sighs* your help and advice is appreciated...thanks in advance [=

Happy 6 month Surgiversary to me! I luv my sleeve and would do it all over again. I will be 62 next week and honestly can say I feel like I am in my 30's for the first time in years. It's hard to believe it has been 6 months ago today that I was so miserable, with only 60 pounds of weight to lose, but ALL in my abdomen and chest area heading for my heart! I could hardly breathe after I walked and was constantly out of breath. I have gone from a size 18 jeans to a size 6. My % of body fat had gone from 57% to 32% (at last month's f/u visit). I could not get any of my clothes on, and when i did always wore a spanx or a flexees and was still miserable. I refused to buy any plus sizes. In 1999 I had Nissen Fundiplication surgery for my severe reflux condition. 1/3 of my stomach had protruded up though my diaphragm and was lodged between my lungs headed for my heart. In 1999 the doctor had literally sutured the top of my stomach to my esophagus. My abdomen and chest area was like a rock. Thank God for my VSG surgeon in La Jolla, Dr. Bhoyrul, who i feel literally saved my life. Took him 2 hours just to fix the esophagus and get my stomach bacj through the diaprhagm before cutting off the 85%. He was awesome and will spend as much time with you answering questions that you need him to. Because of his extensive repair, I was on a TPN for 18 days to make sure I would not get a leak in my esophagus. I am so lucky I had a doctor who took that precaution, even though the TPN for 18 days was not fun. (TPN is an iv for nourishment and hydration because you can't swallow anything). So for 18 days I could not swallow anything. I had no food or Water, other than sipping water and swishing and spitting it out. I did not ever get a leak because of this precaution he took. This had nothing to do with the VSG surgery part, this was because of all the repair work he did from the previous surgery. I had so many stitches in my diaphragm where he had to attach it back to my esophagus that I coughed for about three weeks until the sutures dissolved. I never had any pain or nausea even after going through all this repair. Had my drain removed after one week and didn't even know he removed it until he showed it to me. I have never felt better. I am now only 7 lbs. away from his goal for me and 13 lbs. away from my own personal goal. It is harder to lose the closer you get to your goal, so I will continue to go upstairs and do the endurance interval workout he has suggested for me on the treadmill. I have before and after pics on my profile page. The after pic was May 10th so I was at almost 5 months out. Please remember, that your time will come where you can eat anything you want and feel great. Your stomach needs to have atleast 12 weeks to heal. Give it that chance. Don't push it or try to rush it and you will do fine. Of course, when you see a juicy burger on every TV commercial, you are envious! But you will be able to eat it one of these days. Just not as much! There is nothing I can't eat. My sleeve is very accomodating! Please DO NOT get discouraged when you are in a stall. You are not going to lose a pound or so everyday. If I was in a stall, I would have Protein only and no carbs. I drink almost a gallon of flavored water each day. (After sipping on plain water for 18 days and spitting it out, I don't like the taste plain water anymore). Before surgery I was a Diet Pepsi addict. Don't even want it now. Don't want or eat anything fried now. Instead of bags of potato chips, I now eat Lundberg Rice Chips. I used to eat overly buttered popcorn every night after dinner. Since I have only eaten about 1/2 a snack bag or Smart Pop when we went to the show because i thought I would crave it, but didn't eat anymore than that. You may need to decide what you can and want to do without to take advantage of thie new healthy lifestyle you are now experiencing. It is worth giving up some things. You will LUV shopping for new clothes. It is so comforting to me to go to my closet now and put on a pair of jeans (even after washed and dried) and being able to zip them up and button them and feeling comfy the entire day. Keep a positive attitude and praise God that you are fortunate enough to do this for yourself! Enjoy the moment and don't worry so much about where you will be weight wise in a few months or what you will be able to eat in a few months. You won't know until the time comes and you try it anyway, so why worry about it now!. There is no way you are not going to lose. You aren't eating hardly anything and your stomach has been decreased by 85%. You will lose! Don't worry! And please don't forget to take the time to ask questions of your doctor. LUV MY SLEEVE! Good luck to all of you who will have your surgery in the months to come. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Janet :) :) :) :)

I'm three weeks out and gaind two lbs with week. This is my first stall. But over all its looking good,

Everyone has the three week stall... or almost. It's normal for our body to say "Hey, wait a minute here!" and take a break from losing... and it doesn't only happen at 3 weeks. I've had a couple of stalls in 9 months, and one spot where my weight loss was incredibly slow. BUT, and it's a big But, during the stalls is when I've lost inches and sizes. I walked out of my pants during my first stall, and I've watched my body reshape itself literally during the last 3 months of super slow weight loss (compared to weight lost at the beginning). Just this morning I noticed that my tummy has changed shape completely in the last few weeks. Keep to your plan during the stalls. Eat your Protein and drink your Water. Change up your exercise and either add or remove something. I changed from the recumbent bike to the elliptical and I'm going to add in the arc (killer elliptical) in a few days, just for some variety. Most importantly, ditch that lying scale from your brain. Take your measurements and then re-take them when you feel like you're stalled. Watch the inches come off your body and enjoy living this new life and journey that we're all taking. Good luck! I know you're going to do fine!

What's the three week stall? Im 3 weeks.

I am lost at how my new body works. I have lost 53 pounds in 5 weeks, but I stall for three days and then lose two pounds in a day. I am eating 800 calories some days and 1,200 other days. Usually, I am burning 1,000 calories through exercise. I think I throw my body into starvation mode when I eat less than 900 calories and don't eat all day. I am 5 weeks post op, so I am doing good, but I guess I am expecting to lose 1 to 2 pounds a day, like I did pre-op and the first two weeks.

Since surgery Dec. 27, it seems like my face has been broken out and no matter what I do, it just keeps getting worse. I turn 59 in a couple of weeks and it's worse than it was when I was 16 -- mostly in my chin and lower cheek area, even on my nose. About a dozen zits at a time. I'm been washing my face more, trying different products but don't want to use anything that will dry my already mostly dry complexion out. I'm figuring that either my hormones have changed since surgery or I'm allergic to something or my body is reacting differently to something. I've also been in a terrible stall for about a month and a half -- going back and forth with about two or three pounds -- but I figure that will get better soon. My hair loss that started at about four months out is finally getting better at five-and-a-half months or so and I'm hoping that my body has adjusted to its weight loss and it will start back up again. Anybody else having this problem with breakouts and how have you dealt with it? Does this get better? All suggestions welcome!! Thanks, Carol

I started at 240-ish, wanted to be 140-ish. I had surgery in Feb 2011 and was down 90 pounds by Jan 2012. I am not too fussed about the last 10, but hopefully those come off over time. I had a slow loss overall and a lot of stalls, including the current one -- but I'm also not bothered about those very much. For personal reasons, I didn't do any exercise apart from walking till 9 months post-op, and since November I go to the gym three times a week in addition to the walking. Good luck!

My weight loss pretty much stalled in the first couple of weeks after surgery too. It seems to go in spurts. I'll lose three or four pounds and then the scale won't move for a week or so. I only lost two pounds last month because I really needed another fill. Got that fill a week and a half ago and I'm down four more pounds! I know what you mean about eating like a bird, seems the weight would go down faster. My husband tells me I eat like Cindy Lou Who from the Grinch that Stole Christmas!

May sleevers...curious howard calories you're eating and whether or not you're in a stall. I'm at nearly three weeks and getting in about 550. Anyone managing to get in more and, if so, how's the weight loss going?

I would consider myself to be a "slow loser". I am 13.5 weeks out, and am down 51lbs. I had the typical three week stall, but have now been sitting, (actually bouncing between 252-256 - started at 304), for the last two weeks. I expected the stall with TOM, but hopped it would go away after, and it has yet to do so. While it is frustrating, I know it will break eventually. My body is still adjusting from this major surgery, and things will be whacky for a bit. I saw my surgeon and NUT a month ago, and they both say I'm doing great and already consider me a success story...that's nice to hear from a doctor! I to am of the belief that we didn't get this done to be on a diet forever. I had this done so that I could be a normal, healthy person. If I'm craving something, I'm going to have it. Obviously, with the restriction our lovely tool provides us, it's awfully hard to over-indulge, (at least, I find it to be so). I try to maintain a healthy balance. I don't restrict my carbs, or fat, etc. I make sure that I'm getting all of my Protein in each day, and once that's done, I'll allow myself a treat. I'm ok with my steady, slow loss.

First off, you look really great. You've both done good work and you shouldn't fail to be proud of your accomplishments just because you aren't to goal yet. Secondly, the only surgery I'd consider revising to if I were you, would be DS. So yes, if you're considering it, I think that BPD is the way to go. That said, it's a HUGE change and a lifetime of supplements and blood panels to stay healthy, so you have to be sure it's necessary. Which leads to my third: I don't think you've got anything to be ashamed or worried about. I think you're right on track for a slower loser. I lost quite slowly, too. It seemed that no matter what I did to mix up my diet it didn't have a big impact. I know there is one more "heavyweight" here who got to goal very slowly. But she got there! Your sleeve isn't stretched. I know a lot of people feel like there's a honeymoon phase but that is simply not the case. You're more than a year out - your sleeve is about as big as it's getting so unless you constantly cheat it or try to stretch it, you're fine. Your tool is in fine working order. And I'm not here to judge your diet or intake but here's my two cents, anyway. You're eating too much for your body, or you'd be losing more. Some folks are lucky and can eat more without gaining. Some folks are athletes and need 1,500+ calories a day. Some of us have to be very strict all the time to lose and stay firmly on track in maintenance to avoid regains. It's just a sad fact of life. My opinion is that you need to cut those calories. Start by cutting 500 out a day until you're consistently 1,500 per day or lower. And then when you hit a stall (same weight longer than three weeks straight) drop them again by 10% - with this tactic you will lose again. If you're having a problem with hunger check if you need to be on a PPI again. Just in the last month I had to restart my PPI. I was feeling like I was starving all day long and at night I'd have an acid problem. It took me two weeks to put two and two together and get back on my PPI. Now I feel fine again and the hunger is gone. And be sure it's not head hunger. Have you worked on your food issues? We all have them or none of us would have a weight problem. Are you compensating, overeating, hiding? Evaluate this honestly so that you can get to where you want to be. Last but not least, stop comparing yourself to other people. Especially men, because they always lose faster! You can always revise to DS and should look into those options if you're certain the issue isn't something you can fix without it. But not everyone reaches goal quickly. Nobody wants to be "that girl" that loses slowly and we all walk into this surgery with some measure of unrealistic expectations, I think. If we didn't I'd never read a single post about someone freaking out over "only" losing 30 pounds the first month or "stalling" for two days! You know what to do, right? We all do! Dieting has been drilled into us countless times, especially when we spend years overweight. Try using 1,500 calories (go 40% Protein, 30% fat and 30% carbs if you want to feel satisfied) as your ceiling for a while. See how you feel. Get back on a shake a day. I'm two years out and I drink a shake most days. I consume between 1,200 and 1,400 calories most days. I like to hit 90+ on my protein and the shake gets me there. I still have very little room for food. Two scrambled eggs, max. So you do have restriction and you do have the tool to do this. I just think you've gotten complacent. I'm sorry to say it that way - it happened to me for a spell, too! But there's a difference between eating "normally" (which anyone who knows my posts knows I advocate) and eating "normally for an overweight person." You don't need 2,000 calories a day, especially not in the losing phase. I don't care what the doctors say or the nutritionists say, either. If they were right, and dieting was one size fits all, I would have gotten thin the first time I tried Weight Watchers at sixteen! Chin up. Be nice to yourself. Pat yourself on your back for how far you've come. And get your buns back on track. Because if you hang in there, you can live at goal. ~Cheri

Oh yes!! It is actually extremely normal... you hit the "three week stall". It sucks, but it happens. I believe it is just your body's way of dealing with the all the changes. You will break out of it! In the meantime, focus on your water, protein and vitamins and don't worry about the scale (well, try not to!)

I wondering if that is happening to me. I'm almost three weeks out and have lost 28 pounds but haven't lost any in 3 days. I wonder why we have stalls so soon after surgery?

2BonederfulAgain, do not dispair! Many people experience a "stall" at week three and for some it's a bit earlier (week 2) or later (week 4-5). We're all different! You may have extra waste built up in your colon (when was the last time you had a decent poop?). It could be that your hormone levels are higher than normal at the moment (we have extra estrogen in our systems during rapid weight loss as it is released from our fat cells and floods our bodies), so you could be retaining Water as a result of that, which will up your weight. Are you weighing yourself at the same time of day, same clothing or lack of clothing (I weight myself naked, to reduce any variables!). I always weight myself first thing in the morning, right after I pee and before I eat or drink anything. The time of day is fairly consistent and all other variables are fairly consistent too. That way, I can't blame gains on "too much clothes, I just ate, I haven't pee'd , etc. The main culprit is a lack of a bowel movement and that's not as easily controlled! LOL If you're doing all those things and the weight is still the same, look to some other indicators that things are still progressing.....measurements can change, even when the scale doesn't. You might notice clothes are fitting more comfortably than before, or are getting too big (yeah!). Take a look at what you're eating. At 3 weeks out you're probably still in full liquids, possibly on mushies (each surgeon is different). So, are you getting enough Protein? Enough calories? Try to be as patient as possible (I know, I know.....that SUX). Our bodies have been throw a MAJOR curve ball. First we go on a pre-op diet (not every surgeon requires it, but most do and it varies from a few days to a few weeks!), then we have a major surgery, and then we suddenly STARVE ourselves (as our bodies see it). Your body's fighting back! It thinks your under life-threatening attack and trying to save your life! Give it time to figure out that "it's all good" and it will come 'round and get you back on the losing track. We're here if you have more questions, concerns, frustrations, anger....need to vent. That's what this place is for!

I am wondering and I bet a few others might be too but.... I have seen it common for a rather large group of us to experience the "three week stall" (right after surgery) - but are there any other common stall times that commonly occur during the post sleeve journey?

I'm a little bit of a slow loser I think (which is okay with me). I lost 17 pounds in the two-week pre-op low carb diet but only 15 since surgery on May 3 and I haven't had any food that are cheat foods. As long as I see the scale going down two or three pounds a week I am totally fine with that. I expect a stall at some point and I'll power through it. I haven't added much exercise yet but have an appt. tomorrow with my NUT and Fitness Consultant. I think when I add some exercise in and get my calories up a little, I might see a larger loss, but who knows what my body is going to decide to do. So far, a little peanut butter is the only thing I've tried that has not agreed with my sleeve. One of the things I have noticed is that I am much more 'in tune' to what my body is telling me. If I am a little bit down on my water, I get tired, so I up my H2O. I am pretty much able to gulp down water now too, so I can swig a glass before bed if I need to. I also had my best NSV ever and posted it in a different section. Put a pair of pants on and they promptly fell to the ground! My husband had to come in and see what I was laughing so hard at. I'm wearing clothes in my closet that I haven't worn for many years and other clothes that I wore that were tight now fit really well. It's such an incredible feeling and a great morale booster!

Well I have been off here for several weeks. My stress levels have been amped up 100%. I have been in a stall for about three weeks and for the last two weeks I have been dealing with a f/u mammogram with negative results, referral to surgeon, breast ultrasound, then finally last Thursday a breast biopsy under general anaesthesia. Now impatiently waiting for results on Wednesday. Fortunately for me it is the same surgeon. I told him that I had not intendd to get to know him quite this well, he laughed. My weight has not changed except to go up about 5 pounds - However, today I put on a size 22 pair of jeans and a size 22/24 shirt. The clothes I wore into the store were a size 26 jean and a 30/32 shirt. Not sure how it all works, but I am so thankful. For all the prayers out there, I would appreciate them for the next few days.